Lonely Child
by rebelrebel96
Summary: Haley James has been in foster care her whole life, but when she goes to court to attempt to become an emancipated minor, what happens when the people she never thought she'd meet show up and claim her? **Couples announced later in story!**


**A/N: So, basically this is my second story and it's slightly based off of Life UneXpected, and I know I should put it in the crossover section for Life UneXpected and One Tree Hill since I'm using Cate/Ryan/Baze (they won't be MAIN characters, but they will tie into the story,) but I already looked- there ISN'T a crossover section for my two favourite shows! So I decided to put my story here instead of the Life UneXpected board, since I do intend on using mainly One Tree Hill characters. Please, excuse my incorrect references because I'm only thirteen and I don't know much about the foster care system except for the bits and pieces my sister told me when she was in the foster care system. (It was kind of a Lux situation for her, my parents were fifteen when they had her and made the decision to give her up for adoption, hoping she'd have a better life than they could provide for her, they later had me twelve years later and when I was twelve she tracked us down and we got to know her, it was such an amazing experience!) And if my writing is a little bit awkward, there's run on sentences, etc... I'm still working on the flow of my writing since it's a hobby and passion of mine, so please excuse me! **

**If you're interested in the story, I promise to make the chapters longer thant 2,000 words, this was just to see if I should continue (which I'll decide after reading the reviews,). Like I said before, this story has some Life UneXpected references and that's what part of my storyline is based off of, but I assure you that the relationships will be strictly One Tree Hill relationships (eg. Jaley, Brathan, Leyton,) now those aren't what I have set in stone for relationships, and I'm keeping those a secret, as you'll see the "main character" is just set as Haley, but I guess that's a little lie once the story gets going. I like surprising people, and sometimes it pisses them off... but whatever. :) **

**I'd love to hear your thoughts about who you think I should pair the characters with (Even the Life UneXpected characters like Cate, Ryan, and Baze...) and once again, they won't take up a lot of space in this story otherwise I'd put it in the Life UneXpected section. If you don't like what I'm doing adding the LUX characters in then please let me know and I can change that for you, it's an easy fix since I haven't actually explained it yet, and I know I said I like to surprise people but I decided to let you guys know what I was doing about this particular situation to hear your feedback on it. **

**Thanks for reading, and please let me know what you think! Also if you have any tips for my writing, that would be appreciated, but no pressure, I'd be simply happy with a, "I don't like the idea of this story," or "Love it! Please update," trust me, I'm not picky when it comes to reviews, I just like knowing how many people are interested by looking at the reviews (and the notifications via e-mail about people subscribing to the story!). **

**Now I've completely rambled, and I apologize! I'll let you get onto the story now.**

**WAAAIT, I'm still working on Rebel With A Cause I've just been sidetracked, I completely put writing aside for exams & then I went to Wilmington... so yah. lol **

**-riley.**

Fifteen, soon to be sixteen year old Haley James paced around the lonely, quiet, and secluded streets of Tree Hill, North Carolina. It was 12:16 AM, and sixteen year old Haley had nowhere to be. She had no family that were anxiously awaiting her arrival home, and her foster parents could care less whether she walked through the door or not, all they cared about were getting paid for supposedly fostering a child and having a free babysitting service; Haley. If Haley didn't do as told and look after the annoying children she was usually stuck with, she would have to face the consequences, which usually involved being slapped around and screamed at, then her "refusal to cooperate" would be reported back to social services, and she'd end up back at the Tree Hill Home for Children. She hated it there, and she hated the foster homes more. Sometimes the dads would have enough balls to attempt on hit on her, a fifteen year old girl! She did look mature for her age, but that wasn't the point, at all.

Haley was a social bee, she wasn't when she first arrived at Tree Hill High, she was used to her surroundings in middle school, but surely enough she opened up to Alex Dupre and Peyton Sawyer, two of the most unlikely best friends who were eventually joined by Haley James. The duo was inseparable; they almost never left each other's sides. All three of them were all so different from each other, but that's what made them so attached to each other. Alex was bubbly and flirtatious, while Peyton was moody, attentive, and... cautious. Both of the girls, well all three of them had huge hearts and cared immensely for each other, which was something that they all knew would never change even if their personalities did. Haley was cautious like Peyton, and also shared a rebel like persona like Peyton also had. Haley inherited it from the friends she had made at THHFC, who were mostly badasses who broke the law a lot. Haley and Peyton often shoplifted together, since they really had nothing better to do. Alex had the money to buy whatever she wanted whenever she wanted, so she didn't bother putting herself at risk. No matter how many times she offered to pay for Haley and Peyton's items, they always refused.

Never once had they been caught, and thank god for that because they'd both be in a lot of shit. Peyton's father was abusive, and her mother had passed away several years before due to a fatal car accident. Peyton's father, Larry, hadn't always been like that, but Elizabeth Sawyer's death hit him hard, and as much as he loved his daughter he couldn't cope. He started drinking excessively, and his anger came out and he took it out on Peyton. They weren't poor, but if Peyton expected Larry to give her a dime then she was absolutely wrong. She had to work to get the things she wanted in life, and so be it, because her personality wasn't "Give it to me," it was "I'll work for it damn it,".

Haley was basically the same; obviously her foster parents wouldn't be giving her any money, so instead she either got a temporary crappy job to pay for something she wanted or needed, or instead she simply just took it. She had learned how to rip off the tags that set the alarms off without looking suspicious, therefore it was a breeze. All she had to do was casually slip the clothing item into her bag without anybody noticing, and walk out the door as if nothing happened. She wasn't a good liar, at all, so she prayed every time that nobody asked her anything if she was alone. One time the sales lady was suspicious, and confronted the girls. Without blinking, Peyton said, "We're fine, thank you. We're not too fond of this store so we're going to find something that meets our taste."

Haley couldn't believe how smooth Peyton was while talking to the woman, but at the same time was relieved and thankful. The two carried on with their day and went to Alex's and told their story.

Overall, Haley James was a badass, but at the same time was a kind and caring, generous person. One time Larry had gone through Peyton's room and put _everything_ into the trash, all the clothes she had worked so hard to buy (and shoplift,) and all the money she had saved up. Haley took 2,000 dollars out of the 3,000 she had saved up, and gave it to Peyton, well tried to. Peyton refused to take the money, she wouldn't take it. She appreciated the offer but knew Haley would end up needing it for whatever she wanted to do later on, and instead went trash diving and end up saving all her clothes and doing a big wash load that night.

Haley loved her friends to pieces, and she knew they'd always be there for her no matter what. But because she had no real family, there was always something feeling so empty inside of her, mainly inside of her heart, and sometimes she considered that it was because she was born with a hole on her heart, but that only made her wonder if there was a reason for that.

* * *

At 1:30 AM, Haley found herself tired and retreated back to her run-down, crappy foster home, which belonged to the Lawson family. Robert Lawson was one of the examples of creepy foster dads who tried to hit on her, which made Haley feel really uncomfortable. She even attempted to let Abigail Lawson, the mother know, but she brushed it off and called Haley a crazy bitch instead.

Abigail and Robert were drug dealers, which only made Haley feel more uncomfortable in their home. She never ate or drank anything in the house, and barely touched anything except her belongings, which she made sure to keep hidden from them in case they tried anything.

Haley slowly made her way upstairs, but barely made it before Abigail struck her over the head with a baseball bat. "Ouch! What the fuck!" She cried in pain, Abigail stood there, laughing at the helpless child. "I really don't know what I did to deserve this!"

Haley tried to walk past her, but didn't get very far before getting hit in the stomach. This time it winded her, and she couldn't grasp onto her breath for what felt like hours. When she finally could breathe again, she stood up and flipped Abigail off before finally making it to her room. Thankfully, the door had a lock on it and it came in handy. She locked it and flopped onto her mattress, which stank of pot and alcohol, which only made her want to throw up. That night was the night that Haley knew she had had enough; she was going to become an emancipated minor on her sixteenth birthday.


End file.
